How Dominicans Do Thanksgiving

Discerning a vocation to be a Catholic priest or a religious brother brings many questions. One of them often is: Will I be with my family on important holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas? Well, that depends on who your family is!

When I informed my family that I was joining the Dominican Order and explaining the Novitiate (i.e., the first year of formation to be a Dominican Friar), my mom asked, “So, you will be away for a while and come back for Thanksgiving and Christmas?” Sadly, I had to say “no.” Although I would – and continue to – make visits to the family homestead, my Dominican community is an essential part of my life as a Dominican Friar. And when it comes to important days, I want so spend them with my Dominican Family.

I come from a very large family back in Louisiana. They continue to be a great support to me in my vocation as a Dominican Friar and Catholic priest. And, while I miss the family traditions of Thanksgiving and Christmas with them, God has blessed me in the Order of Preachers with an even larger family. And Dominicans have our traditions, too!

For example, each Thanksgiving, the Dominican Friars of Memphis host our Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia for Thanksgiving dinner. No, we don’t have room for all of them! We invite the Nashville Dominican Sisters currently living in the Diocese of Memphis. Since many of them return to the Motherhouse for Thanksgiving Day, we have them over the Friday night before Thanksgiving. And since it’s the weekend, we get to sleep in and rest on Saturday after all the cooking and celebrating!

You might wonder why we make such a fuss over a “secular” holiday like Thanksgiving. The truth is, Thanksgiving comes directly out of our Catholic theology. Eucharist (Greek: εὐχᾰρῐστῐ́ᾱ or Eucharistia), the daily celebration of Our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, is itself a prayer of thanksgiving to God. In the Eucharist, Jesus offers himself totally and fully for our salvation and glorification. Through participation in the Eucharist, we become “filled with his Holy Spirit” and “become one body, one spirit in Christ” (Eucharistic Prayer III). Simply put, the Eucharist is the greatest expression of God’s love in our lives and that Sacrament which unifies us in Christ.

And so, it is fitting that we echo that love at our family table. The celebration of Thanksgiving Day is one of many ways we bring God’s love beyond the Mass and into the world. With that in mind, The Dominican Friars of Memphis, Friars Paul, Auggie, and Mike, show our love to our Dominican Sisters by welcoming them into our home, serving them at table, and providing a great meal. And since we are a diverse group of Friars, we bring not only the classic fare of Thanksgiving to the table, we also add a little culture as well!

This year, Fr. Paul made his famous andouille dressing and spinach Madeleine – you can tell he’s a New Orleans man! He also provided his “special” mashed potatoes with a low-carb twist. The recipe is a well-guarded secret, and each year we let the newer sisters guess what the secret ingredient is.

I provided my grandmother’s oyster dressing – another New Orleans must-have dish. And I fried a turkey. That’s right, I deep-fried a whole turkey. I guess it’s true: You can take the boy out of Louisiana. But, you can never take Louisiana out of the boy!!!

Fr. Mike smoked a turkey to perfection – because you can’t have enough turkey or variations on a theme! Put all that together with Fr. Paul’s homemade cranberry sauce and a newly-discovered cranberry relish, lots of gravy for the turkey, and some well-paired wines, and the Dominicans had a great meal. (Some of the sisters even had appetizers as they plucked a few ripened figs from the Friar’s garden!) At the end of the evening, we are one joyful – and stuffed! – Dominican Family.

And no evening is complete without Fr. Paul’s famous bananas foster and some select digestifs. (Remember that Fra Angelico is both a nice drink and a celebrated Dominican saint & artist.) Now imagine 12 Dominicans in a kitchen watching blue flambé as the bananas cook to perfection. Like Fr. Auggie with his fried turkey, Fr. Paul is a trained professional!

Before the sisters departed for home, they were presented with a special bag of goodies: Fr. Mike baked some of his perfectly-textured fudge, peanut brittle, and cookies for the sisters to take home as a treat. Our celebration of Thanksgiving may be diverse, but it is never boring!

So, Dominicans may not always be at the Thanksgiving table with the families who raised them. But, we always have family. We pray together, share stories, dine well, and celebrate the love of God and neighbor as one family in the spirit of St. Dominic. While I miss seeing my parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc., I look forward every year to celebrating Thanksgiving with my Dominican brothers and sisters. This has become a great “family” tradition.

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We are the Dominican Friars of Memphis, part of the worldwide Order of Preachers founded in 1216. We have continuously served Memphis since 1845. We are part of the Province of Saint Martin de Porres in the Order of Friars Preachers serving the Southern United States.

This vocations website is part of our community’s Holy Preaching – inspiring others via spoken and written word to answer God’s call to be a priest, brother or friar.